The CATUS is growing up into a modern and efficient organisation

From its first Congress organised in 1945,
there were 13 more Congresses of our Confederation.
The last one was held in Belgrade on May 27, 2010

At the 14th CATUS Congress the way was paved
to a modern and efficient organisation, which
will more successfully represent its members and
be an important component of our society and
international trade union movement.
The presence of around 1000 participants has
shown the importance of this grand gathering in
the House of Trade Unions in Belgrade, during
which it was announced that the CATUS would
continue its active and constructive work with
the employers and the Government. It would also
lead workers in their struggle for social
progress and make efforts for a greater trade
union presence in our society – especially
having in mind today’s complex social and
economic situation.
The Congress was attended not only by numerous
guests from branch and territorial trade union
organisations, but also by the President of the
Republic, ministers and representatives of
employers and other national institutions.
The Congress was also attended by 27 foreign
delegations - representing international trade
union organisations and friendly trade unions
from Europe and the whole world. There were also
representatives from 6 foundations with whom the
CATUS has been carrying out common projects.
At the beginning of the Congress the
participants could listen to “The
International”. Afterwards, there was a film
about the history of the world trade union
movement and the beginnings of our 107 year-old
trade union organisation.
In the introductory speech the President
Ljubisav Orbović pointed out to the fact that
there had never been more reasons to be
concerned about the future than in these times
when the living conditions are rapidly
worsening, the jobs are hard to find and
workers’ rights are under attack.
Since 2002 we’ve had 213 dismissals every day.
This trend is going on, so now there are more
than 780,000 unemployed men and women.
Unfavourable financial situation has led to a
decrease in living standard and a fast rise of
poverty. Around 110,000 employees receive
minimum salaries while 160,000 work without
being paid, Orbović was precise.
According to his words, all of this led to an
enormous dissatisfaction causing a great number
of work stoppages, strikes and rallies. New
forms of employees’ struggle and the length of
strikes show that social situation in the
country is getting more complex every day.
‘We were right when we pointed out that the main
source of the difficulties we are facing is a
badly managed privatization of a huge number of
enterprises. The proof of this is the fact that
25% of sales agreements have been annulled and
this trend continues. Legal proceedings are
underway, property is being devastated and many
enterprises are going into bankruptcy.v Orbović
reiterated the CATUS willingness to opt for a
dialogue as a permanent way of solving problems
and the best means to achieve a better financial
and social position of the employees. However,
if there is no dialogue or if the dialogue is
not leading to а solution, we would not hesitate
to use other legal means in the struggle to
reach our aims.
Continuing its work the Congress has elected new
members of the Auditing and Statutory
Committees. It also adopted the Congress
resolutions on social dialogue, collective
agreements, working hours and privatization, as
well as the declarations on the implementation
of internal reforms, new Statute and protection
of workers in Kosovo and Metohija.
To the post of the CATUS President the highest
organ of the organisation elected Ljubisav
Orbović who so far performed that duty
temporarily. In his final speech Orbović
stressed that he was greatly honoured by the
election which also made him extremely
responsible for the future of the organisation
and added he intended to continue dealing with
the CATUS reforms and its financial
consolidation.
He thanked the delegates for their contribution
to the Congress, which once again showed
importance and seriousness of the CATUS.
“I hope that in two years time we shall be able
to adopt a new Statute and implement reforms
enabling us to become a modern and efficient
organisation. In that way we shall be more
successful in representing our members and
playing major role in our society and
internationally”, he concluded. As one of the
CATUS priorities Orbovic especially emphasized
the importance of struggle for conclusion and
implementation of branch collective agreements
as the firmest guarantee that both employees’
and employers’ rights and obligations would be
respected.
The Congress was covered by various media which
regularly informed the public about its
proceedings.